(Reuters) - Google Inc (GOOG.O) and Facebook trotted out a variety of new social networking features in back-to-back announcements on Tuesday, underscoring their intensifying competition for Web surfers.

Organizing your circles in Google+ can be the most confusing part of the new social network. Yet people are learning to embrace and even optimize their circles for better productivity, filtering and privacy.

We spoke with some Google+ mavericks about how they’ve corralled their circles to be more effective. Below, they share their clever tricks and best practices so you can learn from both their mistakes and their successes.

Advertising budgets decreased during the second quarter of 2011, according to a survey of ad agency executives released Wednesday by Strata, the big media-buying processing firm owned by Comcast. The survey, which is the most recent in a quarterly series conducted by Strata, signals a reversal from the first quarter of the year, when a majority of agency executives responding said their ad budgets were increasing. Strata claims to process about $50 billion worth of media transactions for agencies each year.

Interestingly, Google+ demonstrated strong intent coming out of the gate, with 27% of agency executives stating that they plan to utilize it in their client's campaigns.